Not A Flashback #PoiMe

Yep, it’s Friday. And yep I did a search for May 29th posts last night, but nothing grabbed me. I had a One-Line Wednesday that came up about migraine tigers (triggers), but if I’m going to post about head pain, I’d prefer to ramble on about it anew. Oh! Did I tell you… I’m sloooowly going off one of my meds? Yep, my doc and I discussed it in a virtual visit last week and I’ve now cut Topamax 25% and am okay so far. It’s a good time to try this when I don’t have so much going on and can lie down if I need to. The drug was a lifesaver at a time when I was super-stressed, but things are pretty chill now and I don’t like all the side effects, especially feeling so blah. I can always go back on if my migraines get too horrible to bear, but my hope is that I can cope without it and I’ll have more energy again and can start to exercise more (i.e., at all). The goal is to be completely done by June 30. Since my head gets really bad toward the end of August through September, whatever I do, this will be a good way to make sure I don’t confuse that inevitable badness with going off the drug. I’m determined to be optimistic even though I did this a couple years ago and it was a big fail. I had more stressors then though.

Not that things aren’t stressful in the world now. Right? I mean gah! But I feel lucky that I’m able to stay pretty isolated from it all and I’m also the kind of person who doesn’t mind being isolated. My personal life (knock wood) is calm, even while the world is falling apart. I’m sorry world, but there isn’t much I can do about the things out there except try not to make them worse. Perhaps staying in here, as I do, helps a little. At least I’m not using much gas anyway. But things are “opening up” again, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me as the virus numbers are climbing, but what do I know, eh? Maybe they felt more and more people were going to take to the streets in protest so they’d better let them start going to the Cheesecake Factory (just an example ~ I don’t actually know if the Cheesecake Factory is open). Nothing is perfect. Personally, I am not going to sit in a restaurant, or anywhere else, among a giant glob of people, anytime soon. I just don’t see why I should take that risk. I’m fine at home by myself, going out to get groceries once a week, and stopping at my office (alone) to pick up the mail and water the plants. I understand that some people are going out of their minds without actual physical companionship, but I’m not one of them. The only thing I truly miss is not being able to see my family and the routine of going to the office 9-5 daily. I’m one of those weirdos who likes doing that. There are very few of us apparently… most people prefer blobbing around the house in sweatpants. Bleh.

I don’t really have interesting thoughts about current events. My view is likely the typical “liberal” one on most things, except I don’t allow disgust for a leader to create my reaction to every issue. One thing I differ on from many is my view about social media. I’ve already mentioned my unpopular idea that I do think there is something wrong with the idea of providing a platform for people to be utterly horrible to each other, even to the point of ganging up on someone and driving them to suicide, in order to make money from ads, and then shrugging off all responsibility for it. I’ve said that one possible solution is to disallow anonymity. One account, one person, and it trails you forever like a fingerprint. Well, no one likes that because it’s as scary as a microchip in a vaccine. What about forcing the companies to enforce their own TOS and not selectively as they do but consistently and fairly? Maybe they’d make less money, boo hoo. I don’t think children should be on social media at all. It’s bad. But if “everyone else is” and that’s how teachers are giving out lesson plans, well, whaddayagonnado?

One thing I really dislike about this new block editor is that I don’t see my word count as I type. Where is it? Last time I copypasta’d my writing into a Word document to obtain it, but that’s just dumb. There should be a word counter somewhere! It’s probably here in some menu that makes no sense off to the side and I’m just not finding it. I know, what a weird thing to get annoyed about, but hey that’s me! Weird things annoy me. I need to know my word count, grrrr. Otherwise, there’s literally nothing wrong with typing in blocks and I don’t know what people are so fussed about unless you have some huge complicated page with moving parts you need to paste in. I’m just straight up typing and it’s fine. I don’t know if I can add my photo here (but that was the case with the old editor as well) ~ if I can’t, I’ll save the post and add the photo from the app. (Added the photo!)

Today I need a stamp. Why can’t we pay the water bill online? I don’t think that’s enough for a whole Monday Peeve, so I’ll just leave it right here. Maybe something will annoy me when I walk over to the Post Office and it can be my Monday Peeve, but it’s just a stamp. What could go wrong?

I FOUND THE WORD COUNTER! It’s the little “i”. Why wouldn’t you know that? Who wouldn’t think to click the little “i”…

~*~

Image originally found at Pixabay.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Thursday Inspiration 58

Welcome to Thursday Inspiration! This is my weekly prompt post and hopefully it will inspire you to write something creative, perhaps a poem or a piece of flash fiction. If you’d like to share your writing with the community, please indulge me and tag your post with #p0eticlicense and/or #lightm0tifs, and of course link back if you wish. I will try to visit everyone who participates. 🙂

This week’s theme is castle and the picture is below. Here is the song snippet from “Castles in the Air,” a song written by Don McLean in 1970.

And if she asks you why
You can tell her that I told you
That I’m tired of Castles in the Air
I’ve got a dream I want the world to share
And castle walls just lead me to despair

 

~*~

Image from the Happy Color app.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

FPQ71: Senioritis

Fandango provocatively asks…

How old are you* and how old do you feel — older or younger than your actual chronological age? Do you generally act your age? And what does “acting your age” mean to you?

*If you’re uncomfortable revealing your actual age, maybe you can just say something like, “I’m in my twenties.” Or fifties. Or “I’m a senior citizen.”

I turned 59 during the lockdown. It was not a big deal… although my family gifted me a new phone, which was awesome. ❤️ The fact that I didn’t have a celebration with a cake and such didn’t bother me at all. I had plane tix to fly to Northern California and visit family, and I was sad that couldn’t happen. Dunno when I’ll be able to go…

Do I feel 59? I don’t know. What should 59 feel like? There are lots of people my age (and older) who are way more physically active than I am, but I wasn’t physically active at 39 or even 19! I’ve always been a chair potato. More things hurt now though. Seems like pains don’t go away but simply accumulate. Parts of me I never noticed before suddenly have nerve endings. What’s up with that? I’ll go for a walk and the side of my foot will hurt. Huh? 🙁

Do I act 59? Again, how should a 59-year-old behave? I am definitely a mature and responsible person. But I think in the last few years my behavior has changed even more… I attribute that to my last failed attempt at a relationship. Perhaps it is due to age and this would not have affected me the same 10 or 15 years ago. This time, I just said the hell with putting myself out there and taking chances on people. I’m done. I can’t handle another go-round of stress and drama.

I notice people of all ages seeking conflict because they’re bored, and I notice people of all ages avoiding drama. So I don’t think this is age related, necessarily, even though for me it does seem that I handled stress better when I was younger. My aching head and tired bones don’t appreciate the adrenaline surge that gets my heart racing and makes it harder to sleep. No thanks.

But you know what? The fact that I’m now a grandma (she’s almost 2!) does make me feel older and I’m good with that! 💖💖💖

Great question!

~*~

Image from Fandango himself.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Renewal

She burned all her bridges
And set fire to the river.
The sky turned blood orange;
Her soul swelled in pleasure.
She arrived with the dust
And left naught but ash,
Seeking a hallowed renewal
By erasing her past.

~*~

Image from Pexels.

Written for Eugi’s Weekly Prompt.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

5 Things [Fave Food Combos]

Yaaay! Hooray! 😀 Dr. Tanya is bringing back the #5Things prompt. Here are my 5 fave food combos with my very own photos…

1. Seafood & Pasta

2. Peanut Butter & Blackberry Preserves

3. Lox & Bagel

4. Sweet Potato & Broccoli

5. Grilled Cheese & Tomato

I know you were expecting me to have cake or cupcakes, or maybe cookies or pie, and here I go posting normal food, so like what’s up with that? Welp… There’s no combo with cake. Cake stands alone. Same with the others. Sorry, but I’m not a fan of ruining my desserts by glopping ice cream over them. Nothing against ice cream! Love ice cream. But it’s also a stand-alone.

That’s just how it is.

~*~

Images are mine.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Memorial Day Sharing

Melanie asks some topical questions for today’s SYW…

1. In your opinion, does patriotism require the belief that one’s country is the greatest on earth?

Absolutely not. That’s jingoism. Patriotism is supporting your country to help all of its citizens live good lives with quality education, healthcare, and employment opportunities. It also means helping to protect your country’s natural resources and wildlife. You can love something without denigrating everything else. You can also love something despite its flaws, while hoping they will be repaired.

2. Why is patriotism considered by some to be the highest of virtues? What is so important about love of country? Shouldn’t we be more concerned about humankind, or the planet as a whole, rather than a single country?

I don’t know why some people think that. I’m not gonna get into the weeds with a big lecture on what other people should do. Personally, my values are to first support my family and myself, pay my bills, take care of my pets, and just generally not be a jerk or a burden to others.

3. What is the relationship between decisions and consequences?

It depends on the context. Bad decisions often have bad consequences, but good decisions don’t always show good results, at least not immediately. For example, I could spend the weekend overeating and see an immediate gain of three pounds on my scale, plus feel bloated and gross on Tuesday. Bad decision = bad result. But I might spend the weekend eating only nutritious foods and taking walks, yet three days later nothing changes because good results take so long to show up. Bleh!

4. What is social justice?

Well, my knee-jerk response was to say that this is a term used on social media to mock people who earnestly stand up for things such as gay rights by calling out those who violate the earnest peeps’ principles. But apparently there is an actual definition, or a few variations thereof, which is the movement toward a society where the distribution of resources is more equitable and all people have the the right to live in physical and psychological safety. Sounds nice, in theory…

5. What’s one body part you wouldn’t mind losing? (told you.  Silly).

I don’t need my uterus any longer, lol…

6. What is something that made you smile during the past week?

Pictures of my adorable granddaughter! 💖

~*~

Images from Bitmoji.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

The Monday Peeve 37

Smiles and positive posts are all well and good, but sometimes I need to vent a bit. How about you? That’s what The Monday Peeve is all about, a chance to blow off a little steam at the beginning of the week, so then we can go merrily on our way once again (hah). I’ll pick a topic that’s on my mind, but you can vent about whatever you please, here in comments or on your own blog. Grab the photo, use the #TMP tag, and link back to me (or not ~ I dgaf), and Bob’s yer uncle. I do reserve the right to delete any links that offend my delicate sensibilities. So far, none have, but it could happen! I have feelings!

*

I get that CV19 is a big effing deal, but do we have to blame everything on it? I mean, come on now. So, I ordered clothes from a store online and they were shipped from places all over the country. One piece is missing, a cute top… it went to UPS and then my local Post Office, but got hung up there. Because of the virus? There are messages all over the websites when you go to track a package that things are delayed because of CV19. But I received my normal mail Saturday so why couldn’t they have stuck the one other thing in with it? How is the virus stopping them from doing that when the mailman came over here with the mail and put it in the mailboxes anyway? He could have just brought the one last piece of my delivery instead of making me wait until Tuesday. Here I am, doing my part to help the economy, and they can’t even give me my stuff! Oh, the virus stopped us from putting your package in with the mail, so instead we left it sitting right there across the street in the freaking post office. Sure Jan. Let’s blame CV19 every time we just don’t do something right.

~*~

Image originally from Pixabay.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

SLS ~ Over

Jim Adams hosts our fun Song Lyric Sunday and today he gave us some “final” words. “It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over” was written, recorded, and produced by Lenny Kravitz for his 1991 album Mama Said. It was Lenny’s first Top 10 hit on Billboard’s Hot 100 and remains his most successful song in the US. He said he was inspired by the Yogi Berra classic line and also was writing about his failing marriage to Lisa Bonet at the time. The song is sweet, sad, romantic, and hopeful. I’ve always loved it.

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over

Here we are still together
We are
So much time wasted
Playing games with love
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
To keep our love alive
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
How many times
Did we give up
But we always worked things out
And all my doubts and fear
Kept me wondering
If I’d always, always be in love
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
And kept our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
Baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
And kept our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears I’ve cried
So much pain inside
Baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
to keep our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears we’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many years we’ve tried
to keep our love alive
‘Cause baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over
So many tears we’ve cried
So much pain inside
But baby it ain’t over ’til it’s over, over

~*~

Image credit to Jim Adams.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

20 Questions

These are from Melanie, who got them from Fandango, in two separate posts, but she reworded some, and then added more to make a better number, as you do, so are they her questions or his questions?

Let me know what you decide, okay? In the meantime, imma answer the questions…

1. Okay, you write a blog, so do you also play word games of any kind?

Yes, all of them. Not at the same time, of course, but if it’s a word game, I’ve likely tried it, or some variation. Right now, on my phone, I have Wordscapes, which has pretty backgrounds and relaxing sounds. It’s too easy though.

2. Do you have any other type of creative outlet besides writing? Art, sewing, photography, jewelry making, etc.?

I’ve done all of that. I used to love baking and cake decorating. I also did lots of needlework pictures and pillows. I tried to start a tee shirt painting biz but got a hurty wrist and had to stop. My hands are achy lately, so I haven’t been doing any crafts at all. 😢

3. Do you listen to anything while you write or does it need to be quiet?

I prefer quiet.

4. Are you an avid book reader?

I go in phases. This year I’ve only read 19 books so far.

5. Name a country you would love to visit if the world wasn’t shut down because of the virus.

England.

6. Have you ever written a poem about someone and gave it to them?

Yes, as jokes and seriously. I’ve also written loads of poems about people that I haven’t shown them. Here’s my favorite one.

7. Is there an author (living or dead) that you would love to sit down and talk to for an hour?

Margaret Atwood.

8. Have you ever met a fellow blogger or interacted off WordPress?

I’ve met a few.

9. Cake or pie?

Yes, please… coconut cake / cherry pie.

10. Coffee or tea?

Coffee in the morning / tea the rest of the day.

11. What is the strangest movie you have ever seen?

When I was 11, my parents took me to see Greaser’s Palace in NYC, which traumatized me. I still think about it occasionally.

12.  What lessons have you learnt from C-19?

Nothing, except to double down on what I was already inclined to do.

13. What values do you live by?

Family first. Prioritize work and my peace of mind. Try to tune out the negativity and craziness of other people.

14. What is your favorite movie?

Doctor Zhivago.

15. Whom have you loved unconditionally?

Only my children.

16. Your dreams in life?

Happy, healthy children. Being financially secure. Writing a lot!

17.   Do you like citrus flavoring?

Yes to lemon and lime. Not a fan of orange usually. Pineapple is good with coconut.

18.   What is your remedy for the hiccups?

Holding my breath.

19.   Are you lucky?

I think “luck” happens when I’m careful to avoid doing stupid things. So, it depends on the day… 🤣🍀

20.   Barefoot or wearing something on your feet?

I like socks!

~*~

Images from Bitmoji.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.

Bingo Update 8

See previous update here.

Thanks for following along with my book challenge bingo! It’s been really fun to step outside my usual genres of romance and mystery novels. As you can see, I’m almost finished with my card, but the year is only half over, so I will keep on reading… 😀

For the book about friendship/family, I read The Other Family by Loretta Nyhan. I gave this book 5 stars. Normally, I would have passed it right up… sounds boring. Recently separated mom desperately searches for a cure for her daughter’s autoimmune illnesses. In the process, they do a genealogy search and find the mom’s birth family. This causes a whole new set of problems. Sounds thrilling, eh? Welp, it was great! Pffft! I read it straight through cuz I couldn’t wait to see how it ended. ❤️

My friend Connie recommended River K. Scott’s series Rangers of the Rift, young adult contemporary fantasy stories. Just the thing to broaden my range even more! There were lots of books to choose from, and I jumped in with Salt and Silver cuz I liked the title. Probably should have begun at the beginning, but when do I do things the normal way? 🤣 Anyway, this was fast-paced, exciting writing, with some family drama and a wee bit of romantic tension too. But it was mostly about battling Dark Forces outside and within. Ooh. Not too deep because of the genre, but nicely done with teasers for the sequel.

You may have noticed that I switched checkmark colors from green to blue. This is because I received the new iPhone for my birthday ❤️ and could not match the green on the vast color wheel. When you can’t match, best to change altogether, is my motto. For checkmarks.

Only 6 books to go! Wheeeeee 😍

~*~

Image from Kriti & Ariel.

©️2020 Paula Light and Light Motifs II. No unauthorized use permitted. Please check out Paula’s books for sale on Amazon.